Nigeria’s iDICE Startup Bridge has onboarded 185 founders into its first Founders Lab cohort, after 7,000+ applications and a multi-stage review.
Nigeria’s iDICE Startup Bridge has selected 185 founders for the first cohort of its Founders Lab. The cohort comes from all six geo-political zones, and women founders make up 38%.
The iDICE Startup Bridge is onboarding 185 founders into its first Founders Lab cohort. iDICE Startup Bridge is a founder support track under Nigeria’s broader Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises programme, also known as iDICE.
iDICE is a Federal Government of Nigeria initiative launched in 2023. It is described as a $617 million programme co-financed by the African Development Bank, Agence Française de Développement, and the Islamic Development Bank. Nigeria’s Bank of Industry is the executing agency, meaning it runs the programme day to day, and it also provides financing.
Startup Bridge has two tracks. The Founders Lab targets early-stage founders, while the Growth Lab targets post-MVP startups, meaning teams that already have a working product and some market traction.
According to the programme, the Founders Lab opened applications in March 2026 and received over 7,000 completed applications. After a multi-stage review, 500 applicants were shortlisted and 185 were selected. Selection was based on innovation potential, market relevance, and execution capacity.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, who chairs the programme steering committee, said the government is backing digital and creative sectors as part of Nigeria’s future economy.
For Nigerian startups, structured programmes can help founders move faster on basics like product validation, business setup, and investor readiness. Investor readiness is the set of materials and metrics that make a startup easier to evaluate, like a clear business model, traction, and governance.
The national spread is also a signal. Many founder programmes still skew toward Lagos and Abuja, so a cohort designed across the six geo-political zones could widen access to mentorship and capital.
Bigger picture, iDICE is not only about startup cheques. The programme says it plans to build 66 innovation hubs and centres of excellence, train up to 300,000 young Nigerians in market-relevant digital and creative skills, and support more startups over time.
Primary Source: Nairametrics
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